Nurturing

What's important in a marriage? What's important for yourself? Nurturing! Hubby and I were talking about how important it was for a couple to not only work within their partnership but to also nurture each other. By giving of ourselves to our partners we receive so much more back.

I also think it's equally important to nurture yourself. Especially if you are a mother. I've found myself running around with my head cut off for the past few days and I'm realizing that I need to STOP and take care of myself. Even if I'm not sure how - which is normally my problem.

My first step in self-nurturing was to go buy clothes for myself. Since having junior I've only bought old navy tshirts and some pants. Just enough to get through the "fat" days. Even though I'm not back to pre-preggo size I'm still feeling like I need some clothes that make me feel like a woman and not a "Mom". (Not attacking moms, I just don't want to dress like one. lol)

Buying clothes is not an easy task for me. When I go tot he store I already am feeling guilty for buying something for myself but if it's not on sale then I generally don't buy it. Which means that most of the time my wardrobe is pretty sucky. Or it's full of Old Navy.

I found pretty clothes I liked the other day and NONE of them were on sale. And I don't care. Well, NOW I don't care, because right before I bought them I called hubby to ask permission. He acted like I was loony. Like I would normally ask permission to do anything else! HA!

Clothes purchased. Hubby nurtured. I myself being nurtured by hubby. I decided today would be a day slightly off. I have done some stuff around the house, but there is so much more to do and instead I'm sitting here, blogging and shopping for cheap glasses. My kids are watching cartoons and cuddled up in their "spots" (booger's on the couch and junior's in his swing).

Speaking of Junior's swing: He's so huge that when he swings one of the legs lifts off of the ground and moves, until he's done a complete circle, or run into the couch. He's almost 19 lbs! and 3 months old!

Beyond the Chart

That's right folks. I have given birth to a mammoth baby. Today our doctor weighed him and he has literally grown beyond the 100th percentile for babies. Granted this charting system is incredibly outdated and based on formula fed babies, but it's still the same chart that everyone uses and I don't remember Booger ever exploding in size the way Junior has.

I've also officially upgraded away from the portable carseat with base because I'm not the hulk - I can't haul around 16+ Lbs around and keep a grip on a 2 year old (very determined) girl. And apparently I'm not a complete dumbass when it comes to installing carseats. I went back to the store where I purchased the seat and had them check it out. Not was it supposed to be in the middle of the car, but they were pleasantly surprised at how tight I had it strapped down. They must not know what they're talking about becuase it was NOT tight enough! I've got to relax huh?

Ramblings...

Not much of incredible interest has occurred lately, but I must keep my adoring fans updated now and again. I know how you all worship me.

Hubby returned to work full time yesterday. He still has a ton of leave left though so he's planning on taking some more time off over the next six months, which will be nice for so many reasons.

Reason #1 - I will have an in house Booger-sitter.
Reason #2 - I can go shopping by myself.
Reason #3 - I can go ANYWHERE by myself.
Reason #4 - I kind of like the guy.
Reason #5 - Midweek trips to Anchor Point will become a more frequent occurence.

Since O&O and his troop survived the trek to Anchorage there has been much planning and talk of future visits. Both to Anchor Point and to Anchorage. They're scheming - about what I can't share yet...but sometime in the future I hope to be selling their brilliant and talented scheme! (insert evil laugh here) It's also really nice to know a normal family that we click with and who has kids that Booger can get crazy with. Cause she definetely is crazy!

Right now Junior and Booger are asleep which means I'm not doing what they all tell me to do. Nap when they nap. Oops. I'm just so excited to pay bills and get some much needed family necessities with the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend. I may even do a little Christmas shopping...heh heh. Or me shopping (sshhhhh). Really just paying bills will make me so so happy.

We have a star in the family! I made Junior a diaper out of a tshirt of a local radio talk show host. So I put Junior in the diaper (before he outgrew it - which would have been 5 minutes later) and took a picture. Hubby emailed the picture to the host directly, who not only talked about it on his radio show, but said he's going to post the picture on his website. When it finally gets posted I will put a link up.

AND when I say that Junior is big, I really really mean it! He's more than doubled his weight in the first 6 weeks of life. He's a tank. It's incredible. I keep having people ask me if he's about 4 months old. LOL! He can't even hold his head up yet (just cause it's so darn FAT!).

Clowns in a Car

My Hubby's "One and Only" (no I'm not referring to myself - I am THE One and Only, there's a difference) has made the long adventurous trek to The Last Frontier. And man was he crazy! He made the trip from Georgia to Alaska in an Old-ASS suburban that he bought on Ebay, packed his brave wife and four children in it and drove it up here. When we saw what he drove we were amazed that we hadn't needed to rescue him somewhere in the Yukon. It's a miracle!

And speaking of crazy, did I mention that we invited them all to stay here? Yep, that's right folks, we fit four adults, two infants, and four children from ages 5 down to stay in our 800 square foot home. That's 10 humans in a tiny space. Thankfully we have a rockin' tiny space and they're super cool, so we all had a great time (although I can only speak for myself and hubby).

We're going to bombard them next weekend and check out all the craziness and happenings in Anchor Point. Partay!

I need to also say that my kid is FAT! FAT FAT FAT! One&Only's youngest is a darling 3 month old girl who Junior could eat for lunch. She's so dainty and sweet and he's such a chunk. He's half her age and already as big as her although more in width than length. It's hysterical.

I'm sorry I'm slow on the posts! Life has been pretty blah except for clown car living for the last couple of days. Hubby goes back to work full time on Monday, so my relaxation is over (sniff sniff), but thankfully Hockey season starts up soon and we'll have something to do on those cold boring nights. Then I can get on here and blog about hot, stinky hockey players! WAHOO! Here we go ACES!

My Son

My son!


OOPS! I apologize. This is my son:

Not much difference I suppose! :)

Long Day Post Night Terrors

I think yesterday was the longest day I've ever had. Booger's night terrors continued into her waking hours. I've never seen anyone cry that way before. It wasn't crying, or screaming, or wailing...it was raging. Raging about anything and everything. Fun stuff!

But! After 14 hours of sleep I seem to have regained my daughter - still a two year old, but my daughter nonetheless. Junior also had a four hour sleeping spree - YIPPEE for me! I actually had a four hour stretch.

I have evidence of his voracious appetite now that we've weighed him. He was 7 lbs at birth, but went down to 6 lbs 9 oz within the week. So from 6.9 he's gained 4 lbs 5 oz. in 3 weeks! THREE WEEKS! I suppose his third chin should have been evidence, but DAMN!

And, due to the diaper rash that won't leave and his colic I'm now wheat free. The Dr. (which you all know I adore) said that Soy probably isn't a culprit because I really don't have that much in my diet. Since I've already cut out dairy and eggs, there really isn't much else left. So on top of the dairy and eggs I'm now wheat free. Honestly, if my ass doesn't melt off with this diet then I don't know how else to lose weight! LOL!

BTW - apparently butter doesn't cause allergy issues because it's the fat of the milk, not the protein and caseine. WAHOO! Buttered sprouted grain toast - here I come!

Too Damn Early

We've hardly gotten any sleep since 1 AM due to the swinging pendelum of crying children. One starts *swing* the other one starts. Fun stuff. Booger woke up wailing and wouldn't stop. Hubby (after many attempts on both our parts) finally got her to say that she was scared of the airplanes. We can pat ourselves on the back for that one - the Airshow was apparently a bad move.

So we brought her to bed and then Junior started fussing. If he wasn't gassy then he was rattling in his nose and the back of his throat. And of course the nose syringe wouldn't move any of it.

So Hubby is sleeping for a mere 30 minutes as we speak and I'm about to find some food so that I can feel halfway human.

Oh, and on top of Booger being sick I'm coming down with it too. YAY!

Baby Blues

I don't really remember feeling the so called "baby blues" with booger. Mainly, I think because I was already stressed with her crying all of the time and trying to make her feel better. We were already so keyed up about having a baby that maybe the excitement just pushed me through the hormonal humps. I'm not denying I didn't cry and have ups and downs I just don't remember feeling this way.

It's so much harder than I thought it would be to try and divide myself between two kids. I was so sad for Booger at first and then I started getting annoyed that she needed my attention. I so wanted Junior to have the same amount of undivided attention and bonding that she had, but she kept getting in the way. Which of course, made me feel even worse because only one week earlier she was the most perfect creature on earth. Even the terrible two's weren't making her look any less attractive.

And Junior has annoyed me because just when I get a chance to redeem myself in Booger's eyes he gets hungry. Why does this kid have to eat all of the time? And why is he starting to get so attached to me that I can't lay him down to sleep? He slept great on his own last week. GGGRRRRR!

Add sleep deprivation and hormones on top of that and you've got one blue mama.

OH! and to top it off (and no I'm not blaming anyone but myself for this) he has allergies. I figured Dairy and Eggs. Not an easy thing to cut off, but I did it with booger, so I can do with for Junior. But NOOOO this kid has the worst gas ever. At 2 AM it's so bad that he won't nurse, so I end up getting even less sleep. So I'm going to try and see this week what it might be by cutting out the following foods: Dairy, Eggs, Chocolate, Caffeine, Soy and Wheat. Yes folks...I will be eating cardboard. Cardboard covered in SUGAR!

I self medicated my lack of ice cream and cookies tonight by buying a bag of gummi worms and root beer. I'm thoroughly sugared. Thank god. I thought I might die otherwise.

Day One

So it's been almost 36 hours since he was born and we've survived! I know...it's a miracle! Especially since we don't even know how to tie our own shoes, let alone keep a human being alive. Joking joking of course. I can tie one, and joe ties the other one.

We actually were able to get some sleep last night - in shifts of course, but sleep nonetheless. And I've pretty much spent the day with him attached to my boob. It's been pretty great. Our family inundated us with food and great breaks by entertaining ali.

Oh - and we also got a great gift of an upgrade to a flickr pro account, so I've uploaded all of the rest of the photos to my account and will continue to upload them as often as possible. Thanks Val and Zane!

Booger has been absolutely mezmerized by her little brother. If you look at the pics on the account you can see just how incredibly happy she is. What we're not showing you is the absolute pani when we reach to take him back because he's hungry and crying. She clings onto him and cries like we've just told her that there is no Disneyworld, Santa Clause, Tooth Fairy, etc etc...all at once. It's hearbreaking and pathetically cute.

My Mom is coming into town tomorrow to help out and Tuesday will be doctor day for Tucker. What's very exciting about that is that our family Naturopath will be available (and I didn't think she would be) so I won't have to take him to the big stinky pediatrician's office at the hospital, to a doctor that I will never see again. YAY! We totally lucked out!

Hubby and I also want to say thanks to everyone who has been so sweet to post comments or send emails of congratulations. I've been trying to keep up and reply, but you can imagine I only get a few minutes at a time at the computer. Thank goodness I can type 75 wpm! LOL!